Have you ever considered building your own personal library? This is a popular hobby with many people. In case the world gets a little too digital, you might consider having such a collection, just like you would have gallons of water about the house for emergencies.
Try labeling with the Dewey's classification system. This is very easy to master, if you know the numbers. Wikipedia's general divisions will help. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dewey_Decimal_classes .
Of course, most people devise their own system by author, by title, or by subject.
Do you want to laminate your paperbacks? See library supply catalogs. Don't think I should advertise, but ask your local librarian.
Just think of what the future would be like if there were no printed books. Ebooks disappear because of licenses or other concerns. Here today, gone tomorrow. What about Censorship? Wouldn't it be erase an ebook? Copyright conflicts? Terrorism? Power outages?
Oh and by the way, some of those personally purchased books might go up in value. Nothing like scarcity to increase value. So buying a print book is an investment in the future in more ways than one.
I think I have just made an argument for libraries to continue to purchase and preserve the printed book.
Admit it. Don't you often keep a paper copy of anything you think is important? Why would it be any different with literature? If the lights go out, you can light a candle and be like Abraham Lincoln. Who knows what the future will bring? Your home library - the last source for print? Only the very wealthy have books? Let's support traditional libraries as well as virtual ones. They are inseparable partners in Education.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Congratulations on completing another semester and perhaps starting a new one this summer!
Those of you who are in Nursing are probably very busy, but I can recommend some medical thrillers to you. Robin Cook has written several complete with very detailed descriptions of medical procedures gone awry. You will find several of her titles in our catalog. We also have Michael Critchton and Daniel Kalla.
There's a wonderful reading guide in Books in Print for those of you who wish to play with a new device. It's called the Fiction Connection and it advises according to your favorite books. It's quite graphic and a lot of fun. Put in your favorite title. Select and see similar suggestions.
In the meantime, I have enjoyed some classics. There are many sources online, but I found David Copperfield in Netlibrary. The advantage of reading within Netlibrary is that you can always make a note on the page where you left off and resume reading later. Cooincidentally PBS was also showing a production at the same time.
Be sure to sign up for Netlibrary, if you haven't done so. You need to create an account while on campus. Just ask at the Circulation Desk and we will get you started. Happy Reading. I have several books in mind right now. Books that go with the current movies, such as Angels and Demons. I found this book much quicker reading than the first book, the Da Vinci Code. I'm hopeful that we can use this summer to promote good reading habits. Enjoy!
Those of you who are in Nursing are probably very busy, but I can recommend some medical thrillers to you. Robin Cook has written several complete with very detailed descriptions of medical procedures gone awry. You will find several of her titles in our catalog. We also have Michael Critchton and Daniel Kalla.
There's a wonderful reading guide in Books in Print for those of you who wish to play with a new device. It's called the Fiction Connection and it advises according to your favorite books. It's quite graphic and a lot of fun. Put in your favorite title. Select and see similar suggestions.
In the meantime, I have enjoyed some classics. There are many sources online, but I found David Copperfield in Netlibrary. The advantage of reading within Netlibrary is that you can always make a note on the page where you left off and resume reading later. Cooincidentally PBS was also showing a production at the same time.
Be sure to sign up for Netlibrary, if you haven't done so. You need to create an account while on campus. Just ask at the Circulation Desk and we will get you started. Happy Reading. I have several books in mind right now. Books that go with the current movies, such as Angels and Demons. I found this book much quicker reading than the first book, the Da Vinci Code. I'm hopeful that we can use this summer to promote good reading habits. Enjoy!
Friday, April 3, 2009
April Fool - There was no March posting. March Madness was everywhere it seems, and so little time was reserved for Readalot.
I did finish "Dewey - the small town library cat who touched the world" by Vicky Myron. The book revolves around Dewey (a nearly frozen kitten found in a book drop), and his adopted owner, the Librarian of Spencer Public Library of Spencer, Iowa. Dewey's full name is "Dewey Readmore Books." Now how can you beat that for a clever library promotion? For those of you in the know, Dewey refers to the Dewey Decimal System used by most public libraries to organize their books. "Readmore" is just good advice. Though we learn to enjoy the cat and his fame, the book tells more than the story of a cat. It's about starting over and surviving tough times in a small town with depressed economic conditions. You don't have to like cats to enjoy this book, but it does help!
Another March activity for me was to attend the "Computers in Libraries" conference at Crystal City in Arlington, VA. While there, I purchased a book that critically examines news sources. This guide is straight forward about the persons behind the online sites. The criticism is written by a a journalist and may have some bias. Don't be surprised that Al Jazeera ranks far better than Fox News and U.S. News and World Report. However, consulting many sites is a good idea, and this book will help you to do that. Here is the title and author:
Consider the Source
A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web
By James F. Broderick and Darren W. Miller
Both of the above books will be available in the library soon. Sorry, but "Consider the Source" will be on Reference and therefore will need to be consulted on campus. We can send it to any library location through our courier service.
I did finish "Dewey - the small town library cat who touched the world" by Vicky Myron. The book revolves around Dewey (a nearly frozen kitten found in a book drop), and his adopted owner, the Librarian of Spencer Public Library of Spencer, Iowa. Dewey's full name is "Dewey Readmore Books." Now how can you beat that for a clever library promotion? For those of you in the know, Dewey refers to the Dewey Decimal System used by most public libraries to organize their books. "Readmore" is just good advice. Though we learn to enjoy the cat and his fame, the book tells more than the story of a cat. It's about starting over and surviving tough times in a small town with depressed economic conditions. You don't have to like cats to enjoy this book, but it does help!
Another March activity for me was to attend the "Computers in Libraries" conference at Crystal City in Arlington, VA. While there, I purchased a book that critically examines news sources. This guide is straight forward about the persons behind the online sites. The criticism is written by a a journalist and may have some bias. Don't be surprised that Al Jazeera ranks far better than Fox News and U.S. News and World Report. However, consulting many sites is a good idea, and this book will help you to do that. Here is the title and author:
Consider the Source
A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web
By James F. Broderick and Darren W. Miller
Both of the above books will be available in the library soon. Sorry, but "Consider the Source" will be on Reference and therefore will need to be consulted on campus. We can send it to any library location through our courier service.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Welcome to the kingdom of Readalot again.
I am thoroughly enjoying my free time reading my books about books, such as "The Library at Night." Where else can you digest references to Caliph Omar I or discover such delicious vocabulary words as "peregrinations," "cacophonous," "embrasure" or "quotidian." This book isn't for everyone, but it satisfys the reader who wants meat in every phrase. It encourages personal libraries and establishment of a study.
He makes an interesting observation on our society and a quote would probably be best to illustrate. "Our society accepts the book as a given, but the act of reading---once considered important, as well as potentially dangerous and subversive----is now condescendingly accepted as a pastime, a slow pastime that lacks efficiency and does not contribute to the common good." He goes on to say that should a visitor from the past come to visit us, that he would discover that today's library "is considered less a living entity (great respository of our memory and experience) than an "inconvenient storage room." Not if Alberto Manguel has anything to say about it. He brings new respect to the reader for the book, for the past in relation to the present. He warns advocates of "original thought," that the quoting from books is important. He says, " to quote is to continue a conversation from the past, in order to give context to the present." He adds a quote from Walter Benjamin, "To write history is to cite it."
With that in mind, may I suggest you read some of the newly acquired history books in our library. See Ann Boleyn by Joanna Denny. Here is a book review:
Denny, Joanna.
Anne Boleyn:
A New Life of England's Tragic Queen.
Da Capo. Apr. 2006.
c.384p. illus. bibliog. index.
ISBN 0-306-81474-9. $26. BIOG
Long seen as depraved, deformed, and debauched, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, has intrigued people ever since her execution. She was accused of both witchcraft and adultery by her critics and praised by her admirers for her beauty, intelligence, and piety. This is a popular attempt to redeem Anne, who Denny (author of a fictionalized trilogy on the Tudors) shows to be a highly intelligent, active woman and an instrumental force in the cause of the Reformation in England. Although some might feel that Denny is unfair to Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, as well as her daughter, Mary, she is simply repeating prevalent opinions among scholars. Denny's writing is clear and to the point, though she does have a visible bias against Anne's detractors. This is a definite purchase for public libraries and any medieval and/or Renaissance collections.
Perhaps, I can hear back about a Lady who had the distinction of being one of the two wives of Henry the VIIIth to be beheaded. Perhaps, she read too much? "Off with her head!" Oh, that was Alice in Wonderland. I see what Mr. Manguel means about associations.
I am thoroughly enjoying my free time reading my books about books, such as "The Library at Night." Where else can you digest references to Caliph Omar I or discover such delicious vocabulary words as "peregrinations," "cacophonous," "embrasure" or "quotidian." This book isn't for everyone, but it satisfys the reader who wants meat in every phrase. It encourages personal libraries and establishment of a study.
He makes an interesting observation on our society and a quote would probably be best to illustrate. "Our society accepts the book as a given, but the act of reading---once considered important, as well as potentially dangerous and subversive----is now condescendingly accepted as a pastime, a slow pastime that lacks efficiency and does not contribute to the common good." He goes on to say that should a visitor from the past come to visit us, that he would discover that today's library "is considered less a living entity (great respository of our memory and experience) than an "inconvenient storage room." Not if Alberto Manguel has anything to say about it. He brings new respect to the reader for the book, for the past in relation to the present. He warns advocates of "original thought," that the quoting from books is important. He says, " to quote is to continue a conversation from the past, in order to give context to the present." He adds a quote from Walter Benjamin, "To write history is to cite it."
With that in mind, may I suggest you read some of the newly acquired history books in our library. See Ann Boleyn by Joanna Denny. Here is a book review:
Denny, Joanna.
Anne Boleyn:
A New Life of England's Tragic Queen.
Da Capo. Apr. 2006.
c.384p. illus. bibliog. index.
ISBN 0-306-81474-9. $26. BIOG
Long seen as depraved, deformed, and debauched, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, has intrigued people ever since her execution. She was accused of both witchcraft and adultery by her critics and praised by her admirers for her beauty, intelligence, and piety. This is a popular attempt to redeem Anne, who Denny (author of a fictionalized trilogy on the Tudors) shows to be a highly intelligent, active woman and an instrumental force in the cause of the Reformation in England. Although some might feel that Denny is unfair to Henry's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, as well as her daughter, Mary, she is simply repeating prevalent opinions among scholars. Denny's writing is clear and to the point, though she does have a visible bias against Anne's detractors. This is a definite purchase for public libraries and any medieval and/or Renaissance collections.
Perhaps, I can hear back about a Lady who had the distinction of being one of the two wives of Henry the VIIIth to be beheaded. Perhaps, she read too much? "Off with her head!" Oh, that was Alice in Wonderland. I see what Mr. Manguel means about associations.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
What are you reading?
How is it going? Well, I'm sure you are quite busy like I am, but there's also a very good chance that you received lots of books over the holidays as gifts. My books were very unique to libraries. For example, I'm reading "Dewey, the small town library cat who touched the world."
I am also reading "Cold plague" about prions gone wild, which for a nursing school librarian seems appropriate. A more scholarly gift was "Schoolroom poets: childhood, performance and the place of American Poetry, 1865-1917." In it, we learn that the public performance and memorization gave the children of this era hope and a vision, from which they could draw strength for all their life. Poetry can be retrieved from their memories and applied to everyday life situations. The author's intent is therefore changed by each individual, but isn't that always the case with poetry? This may take some time. Another scholarly gift was "In their own words: Letters from Norwegian immigrants." These interesting letters allow the reader to hear what their great great grandfathers were telling their relatives in Norway about following their dream of free land in America.
One comment about Ken Follett's World Without End. We have the print copy in the library as well as the audio. The audio book is available through the software "Overdrive." You must download the software at home. This is how the system works. Once you check out the book, you don't check it back in. You have two weeks to hear the book and then it is automatically returned for the next patron's listening. A few titles allow burning to CD, but it takes quite a few CDs. Try it. It's fun and makes the time go pleasantly, while you wash dishes or make dinner.
For the purpose of this club, it is important that you don't feel like you must read each book fully, like finishing all the food on your plate. If you reach page 50 and don't want to finish the book, that is fine. Move on to another book, until you find one that really speaks to you. You might want to plant books around your house, and pick them up at random, when you have a moment. This way, you are not reading one book, but many books! I'm, of course, speaking to those who are "wanna be" readers. As a librarian, we are always humbled by how much reading there is to be done! Don't let it discourage you. Just enjoy. It's your treat.
I am also reading "Cold plague" about prions gone wild, which for a nursing school librarian seems appropriate. A more scholarly gift was "Schoolroom poets: childhood, performance and the place of American Poetry, 1865-1917." In it, we learn that the public performance and memorization gave the children of this era hope and a vision, from which they could draw strength for all their life. Poetry can be retrieved from their memories and applied to everyday life situations. The author's intent is therefore changed by each individual, but isn't that always the case with poetry? This may take some time. Another scholarly gift was "In their own words: Letters from Norwegian immigrants." These interesting letters allow the reader to hear what their great great grandfathers were telling their relatives in Norway about following their dream of free land in America.
One comment about Ken Follett's World Without End. We have the print copy in the library as well as the audio. The audio book is available through the software "Overdrive." You must download the software at home. This is how the system works. Once you check out the book, you don't check it back in. You have two weeks to hear the book and then it is automatically returned for the next patron's listening. A few titles allow burning to CD, but it takes quite a few CDs. Try it. It's fun and makes the time go pleasantly, while you wash dishes or make dinner.
For the purpose of this club, it is important that you don't feel like you must read each book fully, like finishing all the food on your plate. If you reach page 50 and don't want to finish the book, that is fine. Move on to another book, until you find one that really speaks to you. You might want to plant books around your house, and pick them up at random, when you have a moment. This way, you are not reading one book, but many books! I'm, of course, speaking to those who are "wanna be" readers. As a librarian, we are always humbled by how much reading there is to be done! Don't let it discourage you. Just enjoy. It's your treat.
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